Carlene Carter, the daughter of legendary country musician June Carter Cash, has spoken out in defence of Beyoncé’s controversial new country album, ‘Cowboy Carter’. Critics have slammed the pop icon for her foray into the country genre, but Carter has praised her ambition and creativity. “She is an incredibly talented and creative woman who obviously wanted to do this because she likes country music,” Carter said. “In my book, she’s one of us Carter women and we have always pushed the boundaries by trying whatever music we felt in our hearts and taking spirit-driven risks.”
Carter, who is a successful country singer-songwriter herself, explained that sometimes the country music establishment has been unwelcoming to new sounds, but often they have been embraced with open arms. She welcomed Beyoncé to the Carter Girl Club and predicted that skeptics would soon become Beyoncé fans. The album features guest appearances from some of the biggest names in music, including Willie Nelson, Post Malone, Miley Cyrus and Tanner Adele.
Nancy Sinatra, whose song ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’ is sampled on the album’s track ‘Ya Ya’, also praised Beyoncé. “She represents what is great about today’s music and I’m delighted to be a tiny part of it,” she wrote on Twitter. “This may be the best sample of ‘Boots’ yet! And the beat goes on…” Beyoncé’s cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ has also garnered praise from Parton herself, who tweeted: “Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it!”
Not everyone has been a fan of Beyoncé’s new musical direction, however. Azealia Banks previously called her ‘Cowboy Carter’ album “white women cosplay” and criticized the singer for trying to appropriate the country genre. She later said that she would have liked to see a feature from KT Tunstall on the record. Tunstall responded by jokingly saying that she would have “100% got off the couch” if the album had featured her
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